Open to all members of the Sabers community. Please search the many pages of the Sabers athletics website to find the answers to the trivia questions.The first 10 Sabers students, parents, graduates, or staff members who submit a mostly correctly answered questionnaire will receive a special prize (void where prohibited).​Explore the website, support the Sabers, and win a contest! Good luck, everyone. Go, Sabers!

SABERS GIRLS: 2019 AISA CHAMPIONS! Boys finish 3rd. ​Boys recap: A relatively young Sabers boys soccer team placed a respectable 3rd at the 2019 AISA soccer tournament held in Yokohama. After going scoreless on day 1, the Sabers boys soccer team found themselves in a tie for 2nd place in their pool and facing a tiebreaking "kicks from the penalty mark" shootout with KIS early Saturday morning. For a young team, this might have been a nerve-wracking experience, but the Sabers were calm, not even bothering to put on their uniforms, and won the shootout to advance to the semifinals, where they lost to eventual champions Yokohama International School. All-tournament team members were Neo Yokoyama, Kentaro Okuda, and Taishi Fukuda. A big thank you to Coach Entwistle and Coach Nikolic.

Girls recap: The Sabers girls soccer team went undefeated through pool play and the semifinals, but they gave up a goal in each match. The defense tightened up in the finals, holding the host Korea International School Phoenix to a scoreless draw. The Sabers prevailed in an exciting "kicks from the penalty mark" shootout, 3-1, to repeat as AISA champions. All tournament team members were Leona Yanagi, Keito Iuchi, Ririko Okuno, and Nanami Hasegawa. Special congratulations to Coach Kono who single-handedly coached the team this year. Thank you to chaperone Matsuda-sensei.

The girls, coached by Coach Kono and chaperoned by Matsuda-sensei, travel overseas, playing at Korea International School in Seoul, South Korea. Here is the tournament programand a link to the livestream.

A group of 19 SOIS middle school and high school Sabers swimmers competedin the winter Kanto Plains championship meet hosted by St. Mary's International School in Tokyo, February 2, 2019. In the age 13-14 division, OIS 9th grader Tadayoshi Kamegai competed in 3 events, placing 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in those events to finish 3rd overall in his age division. The Sabers are coached by Mr. Bertman andMs. Kano.

Four Sabers teams took part in AISA events, January 24-27, 2019, in Seoul, Yokohama, and Osaka.

Math mania: Led by Mr. Bertman, 6 SOIS "mathletes" competed in a math mania event hosted by Seoul International School (SIS) in South Korea.

Leadership: Led by Mr. Sheriff, 4 SOIS student council leaders participated in a leadership conference, also hosted by SIS in Seoul.

Basketball, boys: The Sabers high school boys varsity basketball team, coached by Morioka-sensei and Mr. Kralovec, vied for a season-ending championship at the annual AISA tournament, hosted this year by Yokohama International School.

Basketball, girls: After hosting - and winning - the WJAA girls basketball tournament last week, SOIS hosted the AISA tournament this week. The Sabers, coached by Sagara-sensei and Okamoto-sensei, were defending AISA champions, having won the tournament last year in Busan. The Sabers JV team competed, also.

​Both the boys and girls basketball tournaments will be livestreamed. Be sure to tune in. Click on the basketball links above for tournament information.

SOIS hosted the 2019 Western Japan Athletic Association (WJAA) high school girls varsity basketball championship tournament January 18-19 in a chilly Sabers gym, and the Sabers thrilled the home crowd by winning the WJAA title, defeating Yokohama International School in the finals, 35-32. In a scrappy defensive battle full of turnovers and jump balls, neither team could mount much of an offensive attack. OIS senior Niki Heimer led the Sabers with 10 points, with SIS senior Yulia Ikumi adding 9 points despite spending much of the game on the bench with foul trouble. Haruka Mibuchi scored 8 points, Akari Sugimoto added 4, and Sakura Okamoto and Karen Akashi each chipped in 2 points to round out the scoring for Coach Sagara's team.

Yulia Ikumi, Haruka Mibuchi, and Sakura Okamoto were named to the all-tournament team.

The high school boys junior varsity basketball team is playing in the WJAA tournament hosted by Yokohama International School, January 11-12, 2019. Good luck to Coach Morioka and Coach Sala and the boys.

Wednesday, December 12, 2019SOIS faculty/alumni team defeat Sabers varsity team, 55-54, for first victory since 2003

For Makoto Honda, 1998 graduate of SIS (then known as OIA, Osaka Intercultural Academy) and veteran of many basketball victories on the Sabers hardwood, Wednesday night’s annual Fossils-Sabers matchup was especially important.

“You know, this was the first time I’ve ever been on the winning side in this game,” Honda remarked after the game. “The Fossils always beat the varsity team back when I was a Sabers player in the 1990s. The teachers back then, like Mr. Combes, Mr. Pekin, Mr. Tromburg, Mr. Berg, Mr. Searle, Mr. Zulauf, Coach Bonnette, Coach Heimer, those guys could really ball. Then, once I joined the Fossils team about 15 years ago, all those guys moved away and Heimer got old, and the varsity have always won. So, I’ve always been on the losing end.”

Until Wednesday night. ​

Fossils victorious over Sabers varsity team, 55-54.

Riding the hot hand of business office staff member Keishi Uenoya (career-high 21 points), the Fossils defied the odds and gravity to remain within striking distance of the younger, faster, bouncier Sabers. In the 4th quarter, with 25 seconds left, Uenoya tied the game at 52, exciting the partisan pro-elderly crowd of dozens. Twenty seconds later, Sabers leading scorer Keita Sasaki (30 points) coolly drained a contested baseline jumper to put the Sabers aheadby 2 with 4.3 seconds left.

After a timeout, the Fossils inbounded the ball in their front court. Honda, the Sabers legendary former point guard, found himself with the ball and surrounded by varsity defenders, leaving him no choice but to throw up a deep and desperate runner as time expired. When the 3-point attempt went through the net as the buzzer sounded, the Fossils players and several fans mobbed Honda, no longer a Fossils-Sabers game loser. (Video below.)

Uenoya was euphoric after the win. “Yeah, it was a great feeling, that’s for sure. I’ve been working on my game every week in the semi-pro WNL (Wednesday Night League) and I guess it all finally paid off,” said Uenoya.